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The Law of the Shareholder
Article
by: Todd Duncan, October 19, 2006,
annotated by Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown
Gymbeaux note:
There are many great written works that if read and applied can take you
to places you only dreamed about. The
problem is finding them. Almost every
book ever written is accompanied by hype that never really rises to the level
of its claims. But then, occasionally
you come upon something that has real value, real insight and if applied to
your life would only help you to achieve that which you seek. The first three chapters of Todd Duncan’s
book “High Trust Selling” are great (that is as far as I have gotten in reading
it). Chapter three, like Chapter 10 in
his book “Time Traps” is worth more than the cost of the entire book – it is
priceless. If you are in sales, and who
isn’t because in one way or another we are all selling something, products,
services, ideas or just trying to get someone to agree with us, Chapter 3 is
required reading. More importantly
“required action!” I am a realist. According to studies, less than 3% of
Americans read a book a year. Therefore
simply recommending a book to read will fall upon deaf ears of over 97% of the
people who have read this far in this Nugget.
That is a pity! I am asking, no,
make that begging, that you take the 20 minutes or so to read the remainder of
this Nugget which is a reproduction of Chapter 3 of Duncan’s book (with some
comments from me of course). If you do
not agree with my assessment that is okay but I think you will – no, I know you
will. So please, find some place comfortable, put up your “Do Not Disturb” sign
and dig in. The emboldened words were
emboldened by me for emphasis; the words in red are mine.
Chapter 3
The Law of the Shareholder
Successful Salespeople Buy Stock in Themselves
Tim was doing OK, really. He’d been selling for a few years and had
managed to rack up $7 million in sales that particular year. But the truth was that he hadn’t even
scratched the surface of his potential, and he knew it. Then something happened that changed
everything. Here’s how he tells the
story:
I was jogging one day after work in 1994,
trying to release some tension that had built up as a result of some
frustrations at work. Then a voice
inside me spoke. I can still hear the
words as if they were whispered to me yesterday. They basically told me that I needed to stop
thinking of myself as an employee of someone else’s company and start treating
my job as if it was Tim Braheem, Inc., with me as the CEO.
The mind-set that resulted from the epiphany
was profound. It changed every aspect of
how I did business: the way I marketed
myself, the way I valued my clients, the way I cherished my loyal assistants
and staff personnel, and, more important than anything, the way I viewed my
life and its potential. That day I made
a silent declaration that I could one day earn a seven-figure income. It was an infusion of the entrepreneur spirit
into my career that lifted the lid off of any limitations that I was placing
upon myself by thinking like an employee.
In the twelve months that
followed, Tim added $10 million in sales.
The following year his sales climbed to $46 million. The year after that his sales reached $75
million. And last year his sales topped
$175 million. How did he do it? He
determined his answer to one very important question. The million-dollar question that dramatically
boosted Tim’s business is the same question that can boost yours. Am
I a salesperson in business, or am I a business owner making sales?
SUCCESS IS YOUR BUSINESS
It makes no difference where you
are in your sales career, whether you’re a sales manager, sales broker, or
sales rep. The million-dollar question
applies to everyone in the sales profession.
And more than likely, it doesn’t matter what company you work for or
what product you sell. The fact is, you
will not reach your potential as a sales professional until you answer the
question, and answer it correctly. The
Law of the Shareholder demands that you do.
Over the last seven years my
company’s coaching partner, Building Champions, has coached thousands of sales
professionals to greater levels of success.
And in almost every circumstance, the first business breakthrough
occurred when the sales person adopted something I call a “CEO mind-set,” which
is the point at which one begins to see herself or himself as a business owner
who’s making sales. It’s that simple change in thinking that becomes the catalyst for each
salesperson’s climb toward greater success.
And that simple change in thinking can jump-start your sales career as
well.
The Law of the Shareholder says that the most successful salespeople
buy stock in themselves. That begins when you stop thinking of
yourself as an employee with a job and start thinking of yourself as an owner
of a business with a compelling vision to help people! Consider how your thinking has affected your investments in your sales career to
this point. Gymbeaux note:
I emboldened the word “investments” because when you engage in an
activity that improves your self esteem, your business knowledge or your
skills, you ARE investing in yourself – it should never be considered an
“expense” item on your profit and loss statement even though that is where your
CPA will place it.
When it
comes to yours sales job, ask yourself these questions:
- Do I only spend money on the things that my employer (in real
estate, YOU are the employer!) will allow me to expense? A business owner would invest whatever
is necessary to allow the business to thrive, even if that means using his
or her own cash.
- Do I simply stay busy so the time passes more quickly
each day? A business owner seizes
every minute of the workday because wasted time equals wasted money and
wasted opportunities.
- Am I more concerned with my effort or my
effectiveness? A business owner measures effectiveness first-sprinting on
a treadmill gets one nowhere.
- Am I more concerned with the quantity or the quality
of my sales? A business owner
focuses on quality, knowing that trust established with clients,
multiplies quantity of sales.
- Am I more concerned with my activity or my
results? A business owner measures
results on a regular basis to determine what activities are and are not
working.
- Am I more concerned with earning potential clients’
cash or confidence? A business
owner knows that without trust he or she will never realize the full
monetary value of a client, and is willing to trade commission for
constancy if necessary.
After
reading the questions, would you say you’ve been thinking more like an employee
or a CEO?
The defining characteristic of a CEO mind-set
is thinking like an owner. It is taking
responsibility for your own growth and the growth of your business. It’s understanding that what you do as a
salesperson is operating a business that provides products and services, and to
do that well and with integrity increases the likelihood of your success and
stability. It’s knowing that you must
have a business plan to succeed. It’s
knowing that you must have accountability, a “board of directors,” to help you
make wise decisions that will grow your business. Simply put, it’s acknowledging that you alone
are the largest shareholder in your business.
Thomas Drier said, “The life each
of us lives is the life within the limits of our own thinking” (John Cook,
Editor, The Book of Positive Quotations, Fairview Press, Minneapolis,
1977). And that certainly includes your
sales career. In fact, the salesperson
who follows the Law of the Shareholder knows that to elevate his or her career,
to establish the lasting trust of his or her clients, he or she must first
expand the limits of his or her thinking.
A CONTRAST IN THINKING
There’s an obvious disparity
between salespeople who’ve adopted a CEO mind-set and those who assume the mind-set
of the majority. Here are several examples of how this
contract in thinking plays out in the world of sales.
SALESPERSON THINKING CEO THINKING
Pays only for what can be
reimbursed Invests
money to make money
Calls on anybody Calls
on the right body
Reacts to interruptions Makes
sure interruptions don’t occur
Keeps safe clients Terminates
unprofitable relationships
Is busy and action oriented Is
productive and results focused
Thinks quantity's more important
than quality Knows
quality creates more quantity
Puts profits before people Puts
people before profits
Puts revenue before reputation Puts
reputation before revenue
Builds business ahead of capacity Builds
capacity ahead of business
Prioritizes scheduled Schedules
priorities
Is short-term oriented Is
long-term oriented
Relies on quick turnaround Relies
on clients’ trust
Succeeds by accident Scceeds
by design (and
through people)
I want
to paint this picture very clearly for you because it is so critical. Thinking like a CEO is the first key to
understanding the Law of the Shareholder, and it is vital for establishing the
long-term trust of your clients. A
salesperson who understands the Law of the Shareholder knows that:
- How you work where you are matters more than where
you work.
- How you sell what you have matters more than what you
have to sell.
- How you make your calls matters more than how many
calls you make
- How many hours you produce matters more than how many
hours you work.
- Getting loyal business matters more than how much
business you get.
- Having clients with high trust matters more than how
many clients you have.
The
future of your sales career rests primarily not in your hands or your feet, but
in your mind. In other words, how you
think as a sales professional will determine how you act as a sales
professional. And until you begin to
think like a successful business owner-until you know the statements above to
be true-you won’t consistently make decisions or take actions that maximize
your sales business. In fact, that’s why
the Law of the Shareholder is the third law (the book from which this originated identified
14 laws, this being the third; I would suggest you read them all). Successful thinking precedes successful
acting. And trustworthiness precedes
trust. Think about it this way: Until
you can think for yourself, customers won’t trust your thinking.
The Law of the Shareholder is more than
self-affirmation and self-confidence. While you must first think your way to
the top before you can ever climb there, mere thinking won’t take your sales
career anywhere. Like any business, you
must actively invest in your sales business for it to grow.
YOUR BUSINESS AS A START-UP
What would you do if you were
given the reins to a new business with tons of potential? (When you received your real estate license – you were given
the reins!) Think about
it. What steps would you take to ensure
your success? Well, the first thing you’d
probably do is celebrate; it’s not every day you get an opportunity like that,
right? (And maybe you felt the same
sense of excitement when you were hired for your current sales job.) But after the confetti settled, what actions
would you take to build a strong foundation for your new business? What would your first priorities be?
I don’t think you’d argue that
securing some growth capital would be a top priority. After all, you have to
invest money to make money. What would
come next? You’d probably look for a key
person or two to help you run the day-to-day operations of your business, to
make sure important meetings were scheduled, important tasks were completed,
important phone calls were made, and top priorities were always kept at the top
so that time and dollar were maximized each day. You’d probably also acquire some key
partners, professionals like yourself who understand what it takes to succeed
and are willing to help you make the critical decisions that will keep the
company on the upward slope. (Does any of this
sound familiar? For example, The
Millionaire Real Estate Agent?)
Think
with me now: What else would you
do? There’s probably one more
fundamental step that any successful professional would take if given control
of a new business. He or she would seek to learn, study, and grow on a personal
level. Of course, right? You’d have to invest some time and money in
personal growth, not only to stay on top of all the demands of running a business,
but also to stay ahead of the competition.
To be the leader in your field you’d have to become and remain more
competent, innovative, and attractive than your competition. And you’d most certainly have to be able to
understand and meet your potential clients’ needs better than anyone else. (This means being learning-based, a critical element of the
Keller Williams Model.)
Now,
here’s where this gets a little personal. How many of these same steps have you
taken for your current sales business? Have you invested capital dollars-your
own or someone else’s-in the future of your business? Have you hired a capable assistant whose work
can help ensure that your time is invested in the things that will bring your
business the greatest profit? Have you
enlisted the accountability of a few trustworthy advisors to help you make wise
decisions and remain on the path to greater success? Do you have a plan for personal growth? (Do you have
written goals and work from a prioritized Daily To Do List?) If you are a
business owner, these are the fundamental investments you must make to
succeed. And if you’ve been trying to
succeed without them, I guarantee that your business is not growing at the pace
it could be. But the good news is that
regardless of your current sales standing, the Law of the Shareholder ensures
that when you begin to buy stock in yourself, when you begin to build a
business in which people can put their confidence, others will begin to buy
stock in your and your business will reap the benefits. Jean’s story is a testimony to this truth.
Jean
Dees began her second stint as a sales professional in 1992, at the age of
fifty-four she had some success in the sales industry previously, but it had
been eleven years since she had called on a client and even longer since she’d
had to build a sales business from scratch.
But she missed adding value to
people’s lives. She missed the very
things that make the sales professional a privilege. Therefore, she was up for the challenge.
Initially,
Jean went about things the way most ambitious, hardworking sales people do-she
put in a lot of hours trying to maximize the few resources she had at her
discretion to build her new business.
She would work fifty-plus hours each week marketing her business,
calling on prospects, and attempting to build relationships with clients, all according
to the limited resources her employer offered. And while she met with some
success, it wasn’t enough. Eventually,
she sensed there was a better way to go about it. She sensed that she needed to think outside
the confines of her current resources. Later that same year Jean invested the
time to attend my Sales Mastery seminar in Palm Springs , California
Jean
had already taken one step in the right direction by attending the
seminar. That was her first wise
investment. Her next investment was
immediately hiring a coach to help her develop an effective business plan that
was in tune with her life plan. Together
with her coach she determined what additional investments were necessary right
away and on a regular basis to reap the business and life she desired. Coaching, they determined, would be a
lifetime investment. So would attending
personal and professional growth seminars.
Together with some personal monetary investments and a few initial time
investments, these investments got Jean on the right track. She was committed to following the Law of the
Shareholder, and before long she began to reap the rewards.
Last
year, at the age of sixty-three, Jean received my company’s “Lifetime Mastery
Achievement Award,” which is given to the one sales professional who, year
after year, consistently exemplifies excellence, top-notch productivity, and
value-added service to her clients. But
as Jean would tell you, that’s not nearly the greatest return on her
investments over the years. Today she
along with her son and two other partners own a mortgage company. That allows
her the freedom to spend only thirty hours a week in the office, leaving plenty
of time for her growing family. In fact, in recent years her sales business has
become a family affair. Her son is now
the company president, her daughter a top salesperson, and her granddaughter an
intern for the company, spending time with her grandmother while learning the
disciplines that have made her a highly successful and satisfied sales
professional.
THE TOP TEN INVESTMENTS YOU CAN MAKE IN YOUR
FUTURE
Jean’s
success began with a small investment of time-but over time her investments
have reaped a life she could only have imagined. As it was with some of Jean’s investments,
the returns from following the Law of the Shareholder will often take some time
to mature. While there will be immediate
returns, such as better organization less stress, and a greater sense of
purpose, the long-term benefits are sure to come; more loyal clients, more free
time, more income, and more life. In
fact, the longer you stay with your wise investments, the greater the benefits
will be.
As
Jean’s story illustrates, the long-term returns of following the Law of the
Shareholder are much more than vacations and cash in your pocket. The returns can be even more substantial and
significant. When you invest in yourself
and in your business as the Law of the Shareholder teaches, you reap a new
life-a more abundant life than you had before, maybe than you’ve ever had. The Law of the Shareholder isn’t just about
investing in your business for your business’s sake. It’s about more than that. Following the Law of the Shareholder is about
investing in your business the right way so that your business doesn’t run your
life. It’s about becoming a trustworthy business owner-figuratively and
literally-so you can reap a trustworthy business. And in the end, it’s about sowing into your
business so that you can reap more business and more life.
With
that in mind, the following are the ten best investments you can make to reap a
more secure and successful sales business, as well as a more abundant
life. Follow them as Jean did, and
you’ll reap a very similar reward.
Gymbeaux Note:
There were ten listed in the book but in keeping with the values and
beliefs of Keller Williams Realty, I have added an 11th but have
listed it first.
Extra:
Put God ahead of family ahead of business. God in this sense is a belief in a higher
authority even if that higher authority is an inner voice that oftentimes
directs you in regards to “doing the right thing.” It has been said that over 92% of Americans
believe in a God of some sort so therefore, I am talking to the 92% and the
remaining 8% as well. Just about everyone
puts their faith in something and it is important to give this belief its proper
due and place in your life. When you do,
everything else takes it proper place in its degree of importance.
1. Investing
in your relationships with those you love (family). What will your sales success mean to you if
you cannot share it with those you love? Don’t make the mistake of pushing away
those most important to you in the name of “building your business.” Your investment of time in your family and
close friends is paramount to your sense of fulfillment and success. In fact, your investment of time in your
sales business should be in large part to free up more time to be with those
you love. Sow into your business to reap more life. Yes, you will reap more business as well. But if that’s all you reap, you’ll end up a
rich salesperson living an impoverished life.
2. Invest
in a long-term personal-development program.
You are your business’s greatest asset. You
want to be a great salesperson who earns trust with confidence then you have to
become an expert in your field. One book doesn’t do it. A twelve-month subscription to a magazine
doesn’t do it. Even one seminar every
year isn’t enough. The greatest sales
professionals do all these and more on a regular basis. If you want to reach your selling potential,
our research shows that you need a minimum of the following:
- Comprehensive
Training: This gives you a
foundation to build from. All sales
people need to start with at least one seminar or similar training regimen
that teaches them an effective comprehensive selling plan. An A-to-Z “boot camp” on how to sell.
For you, this book may be your boot camp, and it will be a great start.
- Monthly
Mentoring: Picking one or two
mentors whose tapes, videos, and books will help you maintain focus on the
sales plans and disciplines that you must implant and master to
continually improve.
- Sales
Resources: Listening to tapes
or CDs, reading sales magazines, and utilizing the latest on-line sales
tools on a weekly basis are the vitamins that will keep your growth curve
on the up-and-up.
3. Invest
in a sales coach. You will never
know all you need to know to make every decision that arises from running a
business. To succeed in sales, you must
remain teachable. Therefore, it is
imperative that you surround yourself with a competent, trustworthy coach who
can help you wade through the muddy waters to see with clarity what is
best. And don’t make the mistake of
thinking that a coach becomes obsolete.
Once you reach a certain level of success. On the contrary, a coach becomes an even greater
asset as you climb to higher levels of success, because as the saying goes, the
bigger you are, the harder you fall. The
more successful you are, the greater your clients’ expectations become. Breaking trust is more costly at higher
altitudes. But like a skilled climbing partner, a coach helps ensure your falls
are never fatal.
4. Invest
in a competent right-hand assistant.
More than likely, you are overqualified for the majority of the tasks
you perform. That’s because, if you’re
like most salespeople, you try to do it all yourself. And it’s understandable since most
salespeople are go-getters. But to run a
business effectively, you cannot do it all.
You must learn to delegate effectively.
And that starts by investing in a capable competent assistant. Now, you’re probably thinking: I can’t afford to hire an assistant. But remember that we’re talking about
investing here, not spending. The real
question you must consider is; can you afford to not have an assistant? Gymbeaux Note:
Remember this critical fact. The
assistant you hire also has a personal sphere of influence and you need to not
only tap into that sphere you ought to require your assistant to refer a
pre-determined number of referrals from his or her sphere of influence during at
least the first year of his or her employment.
That way your assistant virtually pays for their position with you.
The
fact is that you will never be able to climb to the next level until you free
up more time to do what brings your business the greatest profit; and in sales
that means building lasting relationships.
The more time you have to spend on profitable tasks, the greater your
profits can be. In most cases, a well-trained
assistant will free up a minimum of four more hours every day (more on this in
Chapter 6 also, read Todd Duncan’s book, Time
Traps).
That’s an additional twenty hours over a five-day workweek-the
equivalent of two additional workdays without having to spend seven days a week
in the office. And if your priorities
are in order, those extra hours can literally earn you ten times your monetary
investment.
5. Invest
in your personal image. What image
are you sending to your customers? If you have a place of business, what
impression do people have of you when they walk through the door? What impression do people get when they view
your marketing material? What impression
does your appearance give? I don’t want you
to misunderstand what I’m trying to say here:
Superior actions can occasionally
override a negative or indifferent impression.
But more often than not, if your image is not friendly, professional,
and inviting, you may never get a sales opportunity with an individual. And such an impression certainly doesn’t
breed trust.
A
negative or uninviting personal image can become a hurdle that customers must
overcome before they commit to doing business with you. To avoid this hurdle, invest in items that
will improve your personal image, such as top-quality marketing and follow-up
pieces, new office furniture, and nice clothing. Keep in mind that until you’ve done business
with an individual, your personal image may be all he or she has to go on.
6. Investing
a personal financial plan. The
long-term success of your sales business depends on your ability to reinvest money
wisely while maintaining financial growth.
That’s a given for any enduring business. But let me take it one step further. Your long-term satisfaction with your sales
career depends in part on your ability to maintain financial stability. What happens all too often is that
salespeople find themselves over their heads in debt, because each time they
landed a big account they took on more financial responsibility by purchasing
the latest car, house, boat, or your name it, instead of paying off debts. In such circumstances, selling often becomes a
hasty necessity of meeting financial headlines rather than building a
profitable business with purposeful, loyal relationships.
Before
you get caught in that trap, invest in a meeting with a qualified, trustworthy
financial advisor who can help you map out a path to financial stability and
freedom. Not only will a financial plan
help you reduce the stress of personal day-to-day finances, but it will also
allow you to predetermine an amount to reinvest in your business each moth so
that your lifestyle can remain consistent.
Let’s
face it, one of the reasons you’re in the sales business is to make money- and
one of the reasons you’re reading this book is to make more money and
eventually to be financially independent.
And according to the Law of the Iceberg (Chapter 1), that’s not a
destructive aspiration as long as it’s not your main aspiration. So commit to spending some dollars on
creating a financial plan that will give you a clear path to your desired financial
future and secure your stability as you build your business. Believe me, as a business owner, it’s far
more expensive not to do so.
7. Invest
time in an exercise program. Your
career longevity begins with your health.
It’s a fact that the state of your body can dramatically affect your
business, especially in the sales profession.
Unfortunately, it has become the norm in sales to work sixty, seventy,
or even eighty hours a week. And while
you may earn good money doing so, very few last long at that rate. Your body cannot take that kind of abuse, and
before long it will tell you so with such ailments as chronic fatigue, chronic
anxiety, insomnia, ulcers, headaches, or even a heart attack. I doubt you’d argue that it’s difficult to
enjoy the fruits of your labor – not to mention life itself – when you’re
always run-down. The fact is that if you
seek a long, successful, satisfying sales career, you must invest in your body.
8. Investing
a client-retention program. To be a successful
owner of a sales business you must do more than provide customer service; you
must produce client loyalty. That’s what
high trust selling is all about. Investing in a program that ensures that those
with whom you do business always return for more is the greatest
dollar-for-dollar investment you can make in your business. I recommend that you focus your investment
dollars on four items: creative
marketing tools, innovative follow-up procedures, value-added gifts, and client
feedback, all of which help to create clients for life. And that is the type of client you should desire
most, because their lifetime value to your business will always outweigh any
investment you make.
If you
own a car dealership, for example, a client-for-life is worth more than
$300,000 to the business. If you sell
real estate, a client-for-life can deposit more than $80,000 in commissions
into your bank account over a twenty-year period through repeat and referral
business. When you understand the
tremendous value of retaining clients for the long haul, it’s easy to justify
the investment in their trust up front.
9. Invest
in a library. The person you become
tomorrow has a lot to do with the books you read today. (Gymbeaux Note: It has
been estimated that less than 1% to 3% of all Americans read just one book a
year. How does that apply to you? Any book is good reading but if you are going
to read just one book, you ought to seriously consider making it a book that
would enhance your business instead of a novel.) It may not seem important
to invest in books, but you must understand that you will never learn enough
through your own experience to out-think your competition. Therefore, you must find another way of
increasing your knowledge, and the most effective way is through the lessons of
others in books. Your investment in a
library is going one step further than investing in a personal-growth plan,
because by building a library you will not only provide for your own growth,
but will also promote the learning of those on your team – and even your
clients – both now and in the future. I
have read over eight hundred books in the last twelve years and am convinced
that this commitment to gaining knowledge has helped me to succeed. (Gymbeaux Note: It is
also one of the cornerstones of the Keller Williams belief system in that you
need to be learning based.)
10. Invest in technology. This goes without saying if you run an
Internet-only sales business. But I am
referring here to those of us who conduct business on a face-to-face or
phone-call basis. To best meet your
current and future clients’ needs you must stay up to speed with
technology. Most, if not all, of your
clients and potential clients have E-mail and Internet access. Therefore, it makes business sense that you
utilize those mediums of communication to stay in touch with clients and to
promote and conduct business. If you
haven’t already, consider investing in a Web site for your business that will
act as both a marketing tool and resource pool for your clients. Investment #5 comes into play here. Don’t invest in a Web site if you’re not
going to do it right. The appearance and usefulness of your Web site will
affect, either positively or negatively, the impressions of clients. If your sales business is done largely
through face-to-face or phone interaction, make a point to use your Web site
less for marketing and more for assisting and empowering your clients. This
will help convey your commitment to people before profits.
YOU CAN PROBABLY AFFORD MORE THAN YOU THINK
The Law
of the Shareholder reveals that you must invest regularly in yourself and your
business if you’re ever going to be successful in the sales profession. That
means you don’t wait for your company to invest in your sales future; you make the
sacrifice yourself because it is your business, and its growth is your
responsibility.
As you
begin to consider how you should initially invest in the future of your
business, I recommend that you assume a new perspective on affordability. One that often has a way of revealing that
you truly can afford more than you think.
One of
my speaking partners, Tim Broadhurst, has always determined his investment
capacity by taking on the following perspective. Instead
of looking at his bank account and determining what he can afford financially,
he first looks at what his business can’t afford to be without then finds a way
to invest in acquiring whatever that is.
Like all successful salespeople, he is always willing to invest a
minimum of 10 percent of his income goal back in to his business. Sometimes, however, it’s much more than that.
For
example, at an early juncture in his sales career, Tim came to the realization
that he was spending too much valuable time performing administrative tasks
like making copies, answering the phone, sifting through E-mails, filing
paperwork, and buying supplies. They
were things that needed to get done, but spending his time on them was not
productive, and he was losing sales. He
knew that he should have been spending that time on building lasting relationships. But instead of going to his company and
asking for an assistant – something for which he knew he wouldn’t get approved
– he hired an assistant with his own dollars, banking on the fact that the increased
time to build relationships would bring a much greater return than he currently
produced. And he was right. Over a short period of time the investment
proved to dramatically increase Tim’s production. In fact his numbers increased so much that his
company agreed to pay his assistant’s salary after just six months. A wise
investment? Absolutely. It’s that
willingness and savvy to make wise investments in the future of his business
that has allowed Tim to build a $100 million-a-year sales business.
Your
investments will generate similar returns if you are careful to determine what
your business truly needs to succeed right now.
Be wise. But also be assertive.
You may need to make some tough financial decisions in order to afford the
necessary investments. But that’s how
you run a successful business. You
eliminate the hindrances to your progress and integrate catalysis for present
and future success. That’s the essence of the Law of the Shareholder.
GYMBEAUX NOTES:
Time
Traps, also written by Todd Duncan should
be required reading for anyone in sales.
Time Traps shows you how to free-up 4 hours of your day to dedicate to
more dollar-productive activities.
Killing
the Sale, also written by Todd Duncan
explains just what the title implies – how people consciously or unconsciously
kill the sale by doing things that have been done for decades and yet continue
even though they are not in your best interest.
More
recommended reading would be Endless Referrals by Bob Burg, a
wonderful read on how to create life-long customers.
And
finally, I would encourage everyone to look into Joe Tye’s 12 Core Action
Values program by going to www.nfnq.com,
(nfnq stands for Never Fear, Never Quit).
Joe teaches the importance of having core values in your life. He helps you to identify what is important
and then how to use the knowledge to help you make decisions based on what is
important to you. I think the training
and guidance provide by Joe Tye is critical to becoming the best you can be and
if that should occur, it will most assuredly affect the way people (potential
customers and existing customers) perceive you and that should be a good thing!
Finally
Joe Tye has created a tremendous tool that can be used to achieve anything you
desire; it is called the Direction-Deflection-Question
(DDQ). It works like this. You simply ask yourself a question in regards
to the goal you desire.
“Is what I am about to eat or drink
consistent with my desire to weight 185?”
If the
answer is yes, eat or drink it; if no, don’t.
I personally lost 35 pounds using this method.
In
sales, “Is what I am about to say or do
consistent with growing my business to …….?”
“Is what I am about to say or do consistent
with my desire to time block 3 hours a day to generate leads?”
“Is what I am about to say or do leading me
towards achieving my goals or away from that desire?”
“Is what I am about to say or do consistent
with my life’s mission statement?” For this one to work you obviously have to have a life’s mission
statement or the BIG WHY you do whatever you do.
“Someone with a job is never secure;
someone with a passion is never
unemployed!”
-Joe Tye
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